I'm just baffled by the having hardly any dishes thing. That family rarely cooks, and the kids fend for themselves. So I guess that makes sense.

We do have a dishwasher but DH is ridiculously picky about washing them. He thoroughly scrubs and washes each item before putting it in, and it's sparsely full. I could easily fit triple the dishes in there. He likes to have it so every cup/bowl etc is perfectly flat and not touching anything else. Drives me crazy, but since I don't do them it's not my place to complain. He likes to remind me about when I put a cooking sheet in without washing it first and everything came out covered in fishstick bread crumbs. If he didn't wash them so thoroughly they'd all come out dirty like that.

My FIL does that too. I get the baking pan issue, but the other stuff looks completely clean to me when FIL puts it in the dishwasher! I'd be putting it away in the cabinet!

We don't have a dishwasher and we have a very small kitchen so everything has to be washed after every meal. I have 10 dinner and side plates and about 6 kid plates. Probably 6 bowls. If we don't wash the dishes after a meal then there is no counter space to make the next meal.

I couldn't live with just one per person. I don't like doing dishes either, and that just seems like it would mean a lot of dishwashing...

I always laugh when people "rinse" (pretty much wash) their dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. I don't, and mine are plenty clean. I don't put pots/pans in there at all though, I hand wash those every other day or so. FIL washes (literally, soap and hot water) all their dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Personally I would be sticking them in the cupboard after what he does.

We have a set of 12 dinner plates plus some plastic ones for the kids, a full set of silverware for 8 (meaning two spoons and forks for each setting), and lots of bowls and glasses. We are nowhere near minimal in that area. But I can stuff my dishwasher full and still have enough left over to eat a meal, which is useful when I forget to run it! We end up running it 2-3 times a week.

I took everything but one of each and put them in the laundry room.
After my inlaws visited they thought something was wrong, and bought us more. I only went to the laundry and got what I needed. I found that I really do not have too much. I use everything I have and we hardly go without.
Now, I will say I the kids have a pink and blue plate, I have a brown plate, DH has a big brown plate. We wash these in the sink after each meal, and use them the next time.

DH just has this thing with the dishes. The dishwasher is pretty new, and it's never had anything come out dirty ever. He's just really really really paranoid about dishes. He'll have maybe a dozen items on the top shelf that have already been washed by hand with soap and I'm thinking I could at least double if not triple the capacity. Especially if they are all basically clean to begin with. Whenever I bring it up he says they wont get clean and water wont be able to reach them if you stagger them or have anything touching.

If this is the worst of our disagreements I think we're doing alright. I *mostly* keep my mouth shut and let him do things his way, although I am planning on sneaking to the store and grabbing a few more spoons & forks. He usually takes a muffin for breakfast, and eats lunch at work - so he doesn't notice the lack of dishes.

The cousins that have virtually no dishes is still mind boggling to me. The mom says she likes to be able to finish the dishes in the evening in minutes because if they had more stuff it would take longer and she would never do them. They are very informal and don't care about rules. We've gone over there and with a big pie or something they'll scoop out bits onto a napkin and in the end there's no dishes besides the pan and serving spoon. They just make it work and sometimes their guests eat with their hands. Definitely not something I'd be interested in.

I know this is an old thread but since I'm new to the minimalist forum I'm reading lots of old posts...lol. I couldn't help but reply. I could never live like your relative does with 4 plates. I don't buy paper plates except for once a year when we have a big cookout. I buy enough for the cookout and don't buy them again until next June for the next cookout b/c I think paper plates are wasteful. We're a family of 3 and dd is only 3 so she uses a plastic plate still, yet we still go through 4 or more plates a day. I run the dishwasher every day and I swear there is never less than 6 plates in there. LOL

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AMA mom to my miracle baby...ttc for 6 yrs, gave up and by the time I learned I was pg, she was born a mere 28 days later at 2 lbs 10 oz. Truly my blessed miracle.

We have 1 dish, 1 bowl, and 1 utensil set per person, BUT, we have a stack of extras kept put away for company. We have gone in there for extra dishes when we are stressed and not keeping up with dishes, but its rare. We have more pots, but no more than we use in one dinner session. Id like to reduce it more, Id love to find a dish that is a big shallow bowl and plate combo, but Ive never found it thrifting. That would reduce our amount of dishes by half. Id also love to reduce our pots, but it would require a massive change in our meals and Im not ready for that. If we can switch to more raw meals, and combines one big pot style dishes, we could consider it.

We have 1 dish, 1 bowl, and 1 utensil set per person, BUT, we have a stack of extras kept put away for company. We have gone in there for extra dishes when we are stressed and not keeping up with dishes, but its rare. We have more pots, but no more than we use in one dinner session. Id like to reduce it more, Id love to find a dish that is a big shallow bowl and plate combo, but Ive never found it thrifting. That would reduce our amount of dishes by half. Id also love to reduce our pots, but it would require a massive change in our meals and Im not ready for that. If we can switch to more raw meals, and combines one big pot style dishes, we could consider it.

This is what I am aiming to get to. I keep the extras for company in the pantry and the ones for us out in the cupboard

Just wanted to chime in and let you know you are not alone with a crazy dishwashing husband. Mine is actually really, really good at packing it completely full to the point that he gets ribbed about it at every single family get together. My biggest pet peeve, though, is that he washes the dishes before he washes the dishes. In screaming hot water. What an incredible waste.

When I get the blessed opportunity to load the dishwasher, I don't clean the dishes that well. You'll never believe this, but they get clean. Who knew the dishwasher could actually clean really dirty dishes. Amazing.

Just wanted to chime in and let you know you are not alone with a crazy dishwashing husband. Mine is actually really, really good at packing it completely full to the point that he gets ribbed about it at every single family get together. My biggest pet peeve, though, is that he washes the dishes before he washes the dishes. In screaming hot water. What an incredible waste.

When I get the blessed opportunity to load the dishwasher, I don't clean the dishes that well. You'll never believe this, but they get clean. Who knew the dishwasher could actually clean really dirty dishes. Amazing.

Bwahahahaha!
I'm so glad I revived this old thread b/c that alone was worth it!

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AMA mom to my miracle baby...ttc for 6 yrs, gave up and by the time I learned I was pg, she was born a mere 28 days later at 2 lbs 10 oz. Truly my blessed miracle.